Pro Tools
FILMFESTIVALS | 24/7 world wide coverage 1u1i3o
Welcome ! 1j3qw
Enjoy the best of both worlds: Film & Festival News, exploring the best of the film festivals community.
Launched in 1995, relentlessly connecting films to festivals, documenting and promoting festivals worldwide.
Working on an upgrade soon.
For collaboration, editorial contributions, or publicity, please send us an email here.
|
Bhool Chuk Maaf, Overview: 29 retakes of Scene 29, Take 29 p6f41
Bhool Chuk Maaf, Overview: 29 retakes of Scene 29, Take 29 Maddock Films has produced this movie. Maddock is a rarely used word and means "fortunate" or "goodly", and is of Welsh origin. It's an anglicised form of Madog, a Welsh given name. Historically, Maddock was a common surname and given name in Wales and neighboring areas. So, let’s put all mad in the dock, start looking at a film from this production power-house, and forgive mistakes, if any, for that is w...
Lilo & Stitch, Review: A Stitch in Time, and Space--Bad kid+bad alien=good kid+good alien Why li lo for 23 years, when you can stitch together a film that cocks-a-snook at genres? And what age-group is this cartoon, animation, live action, stop motion, motion capture, VFX, space travel, and many other technical processes, like AI? Get cracking. Wait a minute. Who is the product aimed at? The target audience? The age group? 0-3 years You must be joking! Do0 children in this bracket watch...
Mission Impossible-The Final Reckoning, Review: Tom Cruises through air, water, ice and land; dies twice, lives thrice 5v2r3a
Mission Impossible-The Final Reckoning, Review: Tom Cruises through air, water, ice and land; dies twice, lives thrice 1,000? You are nowhere near. 10,000? You are getting warmer. 100,000? That, I guess, is very, very, close. It must have taken at least 100,000 persons to put together this humungous spectacle called Mission Impossible-The Final Reckoning, going by the end credits roll. I am making a wild guess, since it was not possible to count the names, which went on rolling for several m...
PARAM KALRA: From sci-fi to Rom Kom 2o343a
PARAM KALRA: From sci-fi to Rom Kom Writer-director Param Kalra began his career rather modestly, with sex romps. He learnt about the basics of shooting any film during this period. Fate then got him opportunities to work for off-beat film-maker Anurag Kashyap and showman Subhash Ghai. Today, he has already made a sci-fi drama, ZIPCODE 47, and is working on his feature debut film, Rom Kom. Through a reference, Param ed showman Subhash Ghai in his story department, where he worked with An...
The Networker, Review: Not-worker 593w1i
The Networker, Review: Not-worker This might sound funny in the days, when film sound-tracks are no more released and marketed separately, but the makers of The Networker should consider ways of marketing their back-ground score. It is constant, comprehensive and compelling. It is also loud, distracting and jarring. But does it drown the dialogue? No. How is that possible? It is, if the dialogue track is equally loud and blaring. Was the team unaware that the sound is faithfully captured on m...
WAVES and I: Registrations open for everyone, except the most deserving media journalist 734u4e
WAVES and I: Registrations open for everyone, except the most deserving media journalist Press Information Bureau (PIB) team WAVES put out a Press Release on 28 April on its website, as below. Reading it, we learn that WAVES will be held at the Jio World Center in BKC, Mumbai, during May 01-04. It ends with these words: for WAVES now. But it does not say that media-persons cannot now, or hereafter. PIB is the central government’s public relations and inform...
The Legend of Ochi, Review: Conversations with a baby monster 4n4f23
The Legend of Ochi, Review: Conversations with a baby monster Whenever Hollywood films take-up a subject that is steeped in folklore, mythology, talking animals, birds, creatures or monsters, it creates a universe for them. In other, similar films, the creature is neither a hero or villain among his own ilk. Then there is the choice between full-fledged animation, or a combination of Animation and VFX. The Legend of Ochi is one film where the monster is neither glorified nor vilified. Instead...
Auntypreneur, Review: Stock market saves sassy Aunty’s housing society from demolition 4v275i
Auntypreneur, Review: Stock market saves sassy Aunty’s housing society from demolition There are very few of his kind. Pratik Rajen Kothari is a cool, calm live-wire. I had seen him only in plays so far, so it came as a pleasant surprise that he has directed a Gujarati feature film. His father, Rajen Kothari, was an ace cinematographer, who died young. But Pratik is a real chip of the old block. Shot in Ahmedabad, with local actors, barring his protagonist, Supriya Pathak Kapur, the fil...
Another Simple Favor, Review: Hope, Charity, Faith and the other ‘f’ word forever 685618
Another Simple Favor, Review: Hope, Charity, Faith and the other ‘f’ word forever An author who writes reality fiction and has a huge following on her ‘Moms’ social platform; she spills the beans on a gym instructor at a school, who films his children in the buff; he shoots and kills himself; she also provides material in her next book on a woman who, she says, murdered her sister; she sleeps with her half-brother; she has an obese black woman as an publishing agent wh...
Ground Zero, Review: Found Hero 4g3v1d
Ground Zero, Review: Found Hero Kashmir. The paradise on earth. The powder keg. The subject of a dozen films made in the last few years. Terror attacks launched by Pakistani infiltrators, or locals recruited by handlers, and Indian armed personnel targetted. Sometimes, civilians are among the casualties. Sometimes only civilians are killed. India’s Border Security Force (BSF) and the local police retaliate. Perpetrators are often found and eliminated. Their ‘handlers’ are se...
Jewel Thief—The Heist Begins, Review: Slick flick from Netflix, but does it click? 233l1p
Jewel Thief—The Heist Begins, Review: Slick flick from Netflix, but does it click? A film with a giveaway title. A film that repeats the title of a brilliant 1967 crime suspense thriller, starring Dev Anand and Ashok Kumar, and directed by Dev’s younger brother, Vijay ‘Goldie’ Anand. A film those title reminds you of the able ‘sequel’, Return of Jewel Thief, directed by Ashok Tyagi and starring Dev Anand and Ashok Kumar. A film produced by Siddharth Ana...
Kesari, Chapter 2, The Untold Story of Jallianwala Bagh, Review: Trigger-happy General Dyer, and Barrister Sankaran Nair on fire 3l6m54
Kesari, Chapter 2, The Untold Story of Jallianwala Bagh, Review: Trigger-happy General Dyer, and Barrister Sankaran Nair on fire It is the era of real stories, ‘based on real incidents, and biopics. Here is none more of the popular genre. Kesar is the Hindi word for saffron. It is also used as a patriotic symbol. Kesari means saffron-coloured. A film titled Kesari was released in 2019, the centenary anniversary of the Jallianwala massacre. It retold the story of Battle of Saragarhi, whe...
Big Bad Idea’s Outsiders Film Festival gets big, good audience 682c4b
Big Bad Idea’s Outsiders Film Festival gets big, good audience Had it been a regular theatre, they would have put up a sign saying House Full. But Veda Black Box in Aram Nagar II, Versova, is not a cinema, and is designed for more intimate gatherings, like plays and workshops, so no such sign greeted me when I arrived at the venue of the Outsiders’ one-day film festival, some 2 hours after it had started. That happened because I had another appointment in the morning/forenoon, and...
BIFFes 16, 2025: The flicks, picks and my jinx, Part II 203928
BIFFes 16, 2025: The flicks, picks and my jinx, Part II My third visit to the Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes) in three decades was enjoyable and comfortable. However, my selection of films to watch was jinxed, with very few movies meeting minimum expectations. Not surprising, considering the same had happened at the International Film Festival of India. As a critic, I prefer to pick films without doing any background reading or asking people who might know somethings about them...
BIFFes 16, 2025: The flicks, picks and my jinx, Part I t3o41
BIFFes 16, 2025: The flicks, picks and my jinx, Part I Among the 1,000 odd classic films that I had yet to see was an iconic film by the late actor-director-producer Guru Dutt, Kagaz Ke Phool (paper flowers). I had managed to watch his other classic, Pyasa, a few years ago. No restored print of Kagaz Ke Phool was available, till very recently, and when I saw the schedule of the Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes), I found that Kagaz Ke Phool, restored, was slotted for 7.30 pm show ...
BIFFes 16, 2025: All the Winners and Winners take all 1e2b6g
BIFFes 16, 2025: All the Winners and Winners take all All eyes and ears were on Bengaluru International Film Festival’s Artistic Director, Vidyashankar Jois, on the evening of 8th March, at Sulochana, Information Department, Infantry Road. He first introduced the Selection Juries, that helped him reduce the number of entries from 400+ to 200, then the Award Juries were introduced, and finally, the films and makers who bagged awards. Besides the citation and a trophy, the awards, in each...
My Melbourne, Review: Ticking the diversity box 1c106c
My Melbourne, Review: Ticking the diversity box Taking the cue from the last segment, which centres around cricket, this is a boundary film, a four in one compendium, or anthology. It premièred last August, in Australia, and has been released yesterday, 14th March 2025, in India. Of the four protagonists, two are Indian and one Afghan. There is only one Australian in the lead cast. Again, three of the four are women and the fourth is a homosexual. Since it is shot in Melbourne, the iss...
2050 Care with Love: A lot of love and care, but little else 25at
2050 Care with Love: A lot of love and care, but little else On display here is a short film, shot in feature/TV serial episode style, where all the four main characters are sensitive, caring and loving individuals. As the film progresses, the qualities these individuals possess bloom on, and it all ends on a happy note. ‘Feel good’ is the operative term for 2050 Care with Love. But extricate yourself from the mushy situations on screen and apply film-making technique barometers, ...
Aamir turns 60, celebrates birthday with media 5a2543
Aamir turns 60, celebrates birthday with media It was producer Tahir Hussain’s residence on Pali Hill, Bandra, where I first saw his cute son Aamir. Aged about seven, he was sitting on a chair and apparently studying or doing his home-work. The year was 1972, and Tahir Hussain wanted me to help him get permission to shoot his new film Anamika’s first scene in my college, National College, which is situated on Linking Road. I had been a student of that college, and had held many po...
BIFFes 16, 2025: The opening, closing, and the team behind the festival 2d4m2g
BIFFes 16, 2025: The opening, closing, and the team behind the festival Besides showing films, major film festivals have a grand inaugural ceremony and an equally grand closing ceremony. The venue for the BIFFes 16 inauguration was the lawmakers’ abode, the Vidhan Soudha (Legislative Assembly) ramparts. Invited guests were taken there in big, comfortable cars or coaches. On such occasions, the 5-10 leading personalities that made the festival possible are invited (they invite themselves...
Superboys of Malegaon: Seeing is believing c55w
Superboys of Malegaon: Seeing is believing As you watch Superboys of Malegaon, there is an uncanny feeling that it has been made by one or more of the Superboys themselves. It does not go over the top when the boys reap unexpected success, and does not become judgmental when differences arise among them. It is not sympathy on show here—it is empathy. That is a rare commodity in cinema, and happens only when your heart beats for your characters. The film, which comes 16 years after Faiza...
Bengaluru International Film Festival, BIFFes, 2025: Universal Peace in Diversity s3w4g
Bengaluru International Film Festival, BIFFes, 2025: Universal Peace in Diversity At one time, Bangalore (now Bengaluru) was considered an ideal holiday location and a town where retirees could settle down after their decades of service. Today’s Bengaluru is nothing of the kind. It has progressed beyond the wildest imaginations. Many top companies, both Indian and foreign, have made it their headquarters, or regional headquarters. And, perhaps, it was the first city to earn the title of...
Categories of entries at the 3rd Tamil Nadu Film Festival, 10-19 August 2025, Chennai 464346
Categories of entries at the 3rd Tamil Nadu Film Festival, 10-19 August 2025, Chennai INTERNATIONAL Narrative Feature *Films originating from outside India must be submitted in the INTERNATIONAL CATEGORY. *Films produced from 1st January 2021 are eligible to participate in the competition section of the TNFF. *Submit films made in any language and from anywhere in the world except INDIA. *Films with a minimum run time of 45 minutes to a maximum run time of 120 Minutes are eligible under t...
Trailer launch of CrazXy: What’s new and different this time? 4w1k52
Trailer launch of CrazXy: What’s new and different this time? With an output of two films since 2012, actor-producer Sohum Shah cannot be called prolific. “I believe in taking due time, right from the script stage till the post-production. This is done to achieve something different, something new, in each of my films,” explained Shah. He was speaking to the press at the trailer launch of his third film, CrazXy, at the Juhu PVR multiplex, on 17 February. Releasing on the 28t...
3rd Tamil Nadu Film Festival calls for entries 2l5g3r
3rd Tamil Nadu Film Festival calls for entries Submit your film (Narrative Feature, Documentary, Animation, Short Film or Music Video) to the 3rd Tamil Nadu Film Festival (TNFF), 2025. * Films can originate from anywhere in the world. * There is an entry fee. * Final submission deadline is 10 April 2025. * Late submission deadline is 20 May 2025. * Student-made films compete separately. * Films made after 1 Jan 2020 are eligible * Special Screening of films suitable for 9-year-old to 1...
|
About Siraj Syed 2b312x
 Syed Siraj
(Siraj Associates)
Siraj Syed is a film-critic since 1970 and a Former President of the Freelance Film Journalists' Combine of India. 6h282g
He is the India Correspondent of FilmFestivals.com and a member of FIPRESCI, the international Federation of Film Critics, Munich, 4y1467
Siraj Syed has contributed over 1,015 articles on cinema, international film festivals, conventions, exhibitions, etc., most recently, at IFFI (Goa), MIFF (Mumbai), MFF/MAMI (Mumbai) and CommunicAsia (Singapore). He often edits film festival daily bulletins. 5x5d5m
He is also an actor and a dubbing artiste. Further, he has been teaching media, acting and dubbing at over 30 institutes in India and Singapore, since 1984. 5d2f62
Bandra West, Mumbai
Send me a message
|
